7 Sure Steps to Failure
Posted on August 7, 2008
Filed Under Weblosophy
I can consider myself and expert at failing. I have failed at what I have set to accomplish so many times, that over the years I have begun to see common pattern in projects that fail. Anybody who has failed before will have seen similar patterns and can most likely agree
On the flip side I have been a phenomenal success in many projects I have embarked upon.
We cannot completly prevent failure as sometimes things are beyond our control. However what we CAN do is stack the deck in our favour and do all the things we can to breed success. Meaning when the judgement point comes, we will have more reasons for success and less for failure thus potentially tipping the balance
Meaning that there are a 1000 reasons that we may fail that we have no control over. All we can do is to NOT to these seven things below. By doing this we stack the deck.
Seven Sure Steps to Failure in any project.
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No Coherent and clearly defined leadership. Each project needs to have a leader and this leader needs to have the final say. Too many decision makers, too many committees or employees that are not content in their roles are clear cause for failure.
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A leader who does not listen or regard his co-workers This is in direct complement to the above point. The leader while needing to have the final say, also need to depend on his co-workers to execute the micro-expertise that he cannot have in every single subject. So this is a two part issue- firstly the co-workers need to be competent and experts at their roles and 2ndly the leader needs to acknowledge this and trust their judgment with an eye of wisdom. Really the leader needs to follow.
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Co-workers who are not on the bus. Co-workers who do not share the same grand vision as others. When an worker is on a job, then need to share the same vision and enthusiasm for the project as others. Whether they are correct or not is immaterial, what matter is that all parties are on the same page with the same vision. If there is difference in vision it needs to be overcome or sharp changes need to occur.
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Lack of Transparency in communication. In any regards, at all levels. Communication needs to be constant and transparent. All co-workers need to constantly make themselves available (both practically and mentally) for communication. A sure sign of a failing co-worker is one who does not engage in clear and constant communication.
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Lack of Urgency. The ‘facts’ are irregardless in this situation. When embarking on a new project, there needs to be a sense of extreme urgency. Even if there is no particular reason to be urgent – say a time line was set for an aspect that gives more time. Regardless of this, it is proven time and time again that success comes from people who work as if they are under the gun and failure comes from those who believe that they have all the time in the worl
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I can use a specific example from my experience preparing and submitting telecommunications tenders to government organizations in Asia. Lets say that we heard that there will be a tender released in 2 months time for a large project. The conventional thinking would be to wait until the tender is released and review and place your bid. This gives time to contemplate and consider
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- However in Asia, (and I am sure in other places) by the time the actual tender is released it is basically already decided %90 who is going to win. The reason being is because the previous 2 months your competitors have been working behind the scenes visiting the government office everyday telling them about their great product and convincing them to write the specifications of the tender to match their product.
- Meaning that by the time the bid is released, the specifications have been written in such a way that perhaps disqualifies your product (thanks competitor) or puts you at major cost disadvantage over some minor and immaterial specification.
- The point being that the GAME does not begin at the Starting gun, meaning that minute you KNOW a task needs to be accomplished, then get all your juice going to get it accomplished ASAP. If you finish it early and have nothing to do then it just means that you have extra time to review and perfect or move to the next
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No clearly defined Goal – This is one of the more common reasons for failing. Before you embark – you need to ask yourself a five paramount questions
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What do I want to achieve?
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How will I achieve this?
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When will this be achieved?
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What are the obstacles?
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How will I overcome these obstacles?
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If these 5 Questions cannot be clearly answered then you should go home right now.
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Not Wanting Success. Its funny to admit, but most people that embark on a project do not want to win. Taking that extra step to be successful can be PAINFUL. And success will only be bestowed upon those who are willing to sweat and suffer. Those that shurg and say “well then it wasn’t meant to be” or make other excuses like “it was a learning experience” or “That isn’t my style” … These are statements of Failure. If you need a concrete example look at the 2000 Presidential election with Al Gore. He didn’t want bad enough to be President. He FAILED and gave up because “he didn’t want to divide the country” and look what happened to the country as a result. Sure after you fail you can say them to ease the sting, but until it is over drive forward and break your fucking head to achieve your goal.
Thats all. We could write a series of books on each of these points, but for those that know this will just be a pertinent remainder. Keep pushing forward – Fortune favors the Bold.
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